Latest News

Disability Living Allowance increase

Administrator — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:14:12 +0000

Good news for blind people in Northern Ireland

Margaret Ritchie, Social Development Minister, has announced that the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance will be increased for blind people here. The Minister had raised this with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions James Purnell when she met with him in Whitehall, stressing the case for additional help in relation to blind people's mobility.

The Minister has welcomed the amendment to the Welfare Reform Bill currently going through Parliament, which will allow those with severe sight impairment to have access to the higher rate mobility component. Subject to Executive approval, corresponding legislation will be brought before the Assembly which will help over 2,000 visually impaired people with additional mobility costs.

The Minister said: "It has been a matter of concern for me and indeed other public representatives, that members of our community with severe visual impairment were not eligible for the higher rate mobility component of Disability Living Allowance. I personally raised this matter with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and I warmly welcome this move. I would also like to pay tribute to the campaign by the Royal National Institute of Blind People in support of this change and I look forward to introducing this measure in the Assembly."

Hotel Prices on Multiple Travel Sites

Administrator — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:50:18 +0000

Now, here"s something useful to blind and visually impaired people everywhere! .

HotelCalculator is a hotel price comparison website that lets you search and compare multiple travel sites. It aggregates data from over twenty hotel booking sites including Booking.com, HotelClub.com, ActiveHotels.com and presents the results in an easy to search interface.

To search, simply type in the location, select number of days and guests and then hit Enter. HotelCalculator will bring a list of results that can

GW Micro Blog

Administrator — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 06:18:34 +0000

I’ve had several days in my life that were life-changing. Today was yet another one of those days. While in New York for Window-Eyes training, I traveled to Guiding Eyes for the Blind (GEB) to give them a demonstration of the latest technology from GW Micro. Since it was my last day in New York, after the demo was over, I had some extra time before my flight left. I might add that I am writing this from a hotel in Detroit because my flight was delayed, but that is another story for another day. Smile.

World Glaucoma Day 200

Administrator — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:41:29 +0000

March 12 marks the second annual World Glaucoma Day to build awareness and understanding about the importance of early detection and appropriate treatment of glaucoma, the worlds second leading cause of blindness.